With no new captive-elephant birth in last 20 years, numbers drop sharply in Kerala

With no new captive-elephant birth in last 20 years, numbers drop sharply in Kerala

Currently, the state has 341 bull and 48 cow elephants in captivity. This compares poorly with a total of 702 in 2010.
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ALAPPUZHA: Amid the seething anger over human deaths at the hands of wild elephants and legal battles over the pachyderm parades at festivals, the number of these animals in captivity in the state has dropped alarmingly. Around 24 captive elephants died due to ill-treatment last year. This is complicated by the fact that owners are preventing female elephants from getting impregnated, further impacting the population.

Currently, the state has 341 bull and 48 cow elephants in captivity. This compares poorly with a total of 702 in 2010.

According to V K Venkitachalam, secretary of the Heritage Animal Task Force, no new elephant births have been reported in the state in the last two decades. “Owners do not allow elephants to conceive and give birth. They nurture the animals for money. Jumbo pregnancies are time-consuming and financially taxing, which owners are not willing to deal with,” he said.

Suppressing instincts

The mating process of elephants takes dedication, love and care. “It involves an extended period of companionship and bonding. A bull befriends a cow through long cohabitation. This requires a calm and remote environment. During the taming process, owners and mahouts administer medication to suppress the animals’ natural instincts. They keep the males away from females, so that they start of view each other as rivals, reducing the chances of friendship and mating,” Venkitachalam said.

“In case of conception, the owner must create a conducive remote setting with adequate vegetation. This results in the loss of around four to five years’ of income for owners.

A full-term elephant pregnancy is around 22 months long, during which time it needs rest. A newborn calf is nursed for around three to six years. Suckling helps a calf form fully-developed intestines. Owners often feed them with synthetic or powdered milk, which affects the digestive system and gradually leads to a calf’s death. Between 2003 and 2007, more than 200 elephant calves died in the state following delivery,” Venkitachalam said.

“Sexual activity is essential for the physical and mental health of both humans and animals. Without proper reproductive activity, an elephant’s metabolism is incomplete, leading to the deterioration of vital organs. During musth, owners and mahouts administer various medicines to suppress the elephant’s natural mating drive. This also destroys its natural reproductive capacity. Studies conducted by scientists at the Smithsonian Institute in the US have confirmed this,” he said.

Curbs on circus firms

Circuses used to be breeding ground for captive elephants in the country. Many of the companies kept 10 to 15 elephants, and deliveries were a regular occurrence in such camps. Circus owners fed calves with artificial milk, which led to various diseases. This resulted in mass deaths of elephant calves during the 2000s. The central and state governments had to step in to curb the use of captive elephants in circuses, which also reduced births.

All Kerala Elephant Owners Association president G Krishnaprasad said the physical condition of elephants has also led to a decline in births in the state. “One birth occurred around 20 years ago when owners brought elephants from other states, including Assam and Bihar. The ban on the import of elephants from other states has also affected the captive elephant population,” he said.

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